Need your recommendations - Cubes??

[dean12]

Management has come in and asked for a tool that would let users peruse data and come up with their own "reports" or answers to questions that they might have.

We use SQL2000 and Crystal 8 to do canned style reporting. I'm looking for recommendations on products that can access this database and let the user have a high-level view into the data.

I think I am comfortable with the concept of a "data cube" and we do want to arrange the data to make it more meaningful to the end-user.

I've heard that Crystal has a Crystal Analysis product - any thoughts on this? Any thoughts on other popular products? Any web site recommendations?

Appreciate it.

 

[softrends]

http://www.pilotsw.com

 

[Rob999]

I used Excel 2002 to present my SQL Server 2000 cubes to end users very successfully. I also included a lot of VBA forms and menu options to allow them to query the data with Dynamic SQL strings sent to stored procedures in the Database. Has built in Charts and I added MapPoint 2002 functionality with a menu selection. Really, your imagination (and time) is the only limit on how much functionality you can provide.

It's cheap, pretty fast and the users like the familiarity of Excel. Good luck.

 

[djcats]

You should check out the Information Builders, Inc. WebFOCUS product. We're just getting started with it, but our "power users" love it to develop their own reports. Our "end users" are getting access to data that they could never get before. The "end users" are all browser based with no software or licensing required. Basically, an end user runs the reports that the "power users" are creating and publishing.

 

[hudi]

Hi,

If you have OLAP cubes prepared, then I suggest to you to review application called ProClarity. Till now this is the tool the best feedback from our users.

Or try a new excel based application called BiXL - Business Intelligence for Excel.

Bye,
Andrej

 

[k1w1guy69]

Hi,

I've been working with crystal analysis and havn't been impressed at all, I definately wouldn't recomend it. Have a play using Excel 2002/XP/2000 and PTS. End users can easliy and quickly extract and play with cube data using a common Pivot Table format and the best thing about it is that it's dirt cheap because its already almost installed everywhere. From there you can create all sorts of flash little Macro's/forms etc using VB or other within excel and Office.
Hope this helps.